Why did we let the rednecks build a Nascar track here?

The other day I mentioned that I thought it was strange that given so many Americans’ universal hatred of Muslims because of September 11, I found it odd that we don’t hate all rednecks from Michigan for the Oklahoma City Bombing . Fortunately, some friends set me straight on a few facts. First of all, many Americans ARE rednecks. And secondly, the ones who aren’t, DO. Hate rednecks, that is. Ironically, that second point was made by a Russian friend of mine, who also said – on behalf of rednecks – that at least “they don’t go around burning the American embassy after we draw them in funny ways“. To which I replied with something like “yeah, they just blow up abortion clinics and stuff“. The irony in my Russian friend’s defense of rednecks being that not too long ago, Russians were the enemy. Which for me is the real bitch in all of this. Anyone who bothers digging deeper than the frothing idiocy of ratings-driven anchortainers or polarized partisan blog punditry knows very well that this irrational contempt for all things Muslim has its roots in the fact that when the Cold War ended, the military industrial complex had a serious problem on their hands, i.e., an enemy crisis. Who better to fit the bill than a culture that most Americans know nothing about? Which frankly could be just about any culture. But handily, most Americans – in spite of being incredibly ignorant of history in general – are experts on the wars between Christians and Muslims, and strangely eager to start them again, even if they don’t really believe in God. The level of ignorance swirling around the whole topic of “Islam as our enemy” is frighteningly depicted in the Onion satire Man Already Knows Everything He Needs To Know About Muslims. I say “frighteningly” depicted, because the satire is so close to reality as to be nearly indistinguishable. So if an Islamic center at “ground zero” is going to be a test of freedom and tolerance in America, I think we should at least be consistent and remove the Nascar track that’s in front of the Murrah Federal Building site, and ban all sales of Pabst Blue Ribbon in Oklahoma City, and eliminate any other redneck insults to the federal government in the area. And don’t try that “it’s not a Nascar track it’s just a street” argument on me. That’s like saying a mosque is “just an Islamic center“. I hope I’m sounding utterly irrational with what I’m saying here. Because it would be un-American of me to do otherwise.